Hoping" Thailand will not impose an entry ban on Koreans like Vietnam."

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Hoping" Thailand will not impose an entry ban on Koreans like Vietnam."

Vietnam announced an unannounced entry ban on South Koreans a few days ago for fear of a coronavirus infection. A lot of Korean travelers were discouraged by the Vietnamese government's sudden move and many were upset and said " I will never go to Vietnam again."

Considering the political and economic relations between Korea and Vietnam, the Vietnamese government's unilateral ban on Korean entry has a hard-to-understand aspect. If it was an urgent step for the national health of Vietnam, it should have taken sufficient time in advance to warn Korean travelers who plan to travel to Vietnam. Vietnam, however, failed to do so.

Many Koreans long planned to travel to Vietnam suffered considerable financial losses, while many of the Korean travelers to Vietnam faced the unfortunate incident of being stuck in a hotel and unable to get out. The Vietnamese government's latest entry ban on South Koreans will leave a strong impression on Koreans for a long time that "Vietnam is an unreliable country, and the Vietnamese government does not care about Koreans."

Political, economic and sports exchanges between Korea and Vietnam were closer than any other country in the world before the coronavirus. South Korea is the country that invests the most in Vietnam. Samsung, which accounts for more than 20 percent of Vietnam's exports, as well as numerous global companies such as Hyundai Motor, LG and POSCO operate large-scale factories in Vietnam. In soccer, head coach Park Hang-seo leads the development of Vietnamese soccer as the head coach of the Vietnamese national soccer team.

South Korean travelers rank first to second in the number of foreigners visiting Vietnam. Korean travelers have long visited Thailand among Southeast Asian countries, but Korean travelers have recently visited Vietnam more than Thailand. According to statistics of Vietnamese tourists in 2019, Koreans visit Vietnam twice as much as Thailand.

Thailand needs to take advantage of the Vietnamese government's sudden entry ban on Koreans. If Thailand does not ban Koreans from entering the country unlike the Vietnamese government, Korean travelers will think differently about Thailand. "Thailand is far more considerate of Koreans than Vietnam, and its tourism policy in Thailand is far ahead of that of Vietnam, Koreans can only think so."

As a Thai-loving Korean, I hope the Thai government will be more considerate of Korean travelers. Then I believe that Koreans will have more interest in Thailand and love Thailand. If the Thai government were to be confident, considerate of Koreans and make efforts for the convenience of Korean travelers, I am sure many Koreans would choose Thailand as their destination, not Vietnam.